A lot can happen in 30 years

Ok so 30 years to some people may seem like a long old time – especially if you’re under 30 at the moment..it will seem like a lifetime!
I recently saw a post on BritMums inviting members to try out the new recipe SpecialK. Well I’m always up for a freebie so I applied and waited for my box to arrive.

I’ve eaten SpecialK on and off for years and was not sure that a change of recipe after 30 years was a good thing. However the new recipe has 3 grains in it and it’s still a flaked cereal. It is very tasty and keeps you full. So if you’re watching your weight (or not as the case may be!) it will help you to last until lunchtime! It’s not too sweet either so good for all ages!

So SpecialK has changed but what about me? Have I changed – you bet I have. It all started on 2nd February 1983, the birth of our first son.

Thirty years ago with New born son

Argh…being a mum it was so hard – babies don’t come with a handbook and you just have to use your best judgement most of the time! We struggled with money with only one income and even had to sell the car! But I eventually learned from a friend how to budget and we’ve never looked back. Phew!!!

Here’s a few personal events that changed my life:

1983 – Birth of first son.
1984 – Birth of second son. Two under 2 – I must have been mad!!
1988 – loss of my Mum – she was only 51. I felt so lost. It made me realise that you have to take chances in life before it’s too late.
1994 – House move!! Oldest son was due to go to the comprehensive so it was a good time to move. They say you know if you like a house within the first few seconds, well I still remember coming around the bend and seeing the house for the time. I knew it was ‘the one’. It still does it to me 19 years on!!
1997 – My career took off – I applied for and got a job on an IT Service Desk with the bank I was working for. What did I know about IT??? Absolutely diddly squat but I’d learn. It was the best job I’d ever had. Seeing the expansion of the internet – which was still in it’s infancy, electronic banking and computers everywhere!! I was eventually to become a Team Leader and a Team Manager there and although there were lots of ups and downs I did enjoy it (most of the time!!)
2001 – The loss of my lovely Father-in-Law. FIL and MIL saved for their old age and did little with their lives.. all that scrimping and he’s not about to enjoy old age. So we thought to heck with saving it’s our Silver Wedding in 2002 so we splashed out on 5* holiday to Jamaica – it was fantastic but also made us hungry for more holidays like it!
2010 – Oh big jump time-wise there!! The year of huge change! We were told the bank was moving our department ‘up north’ and if you didn’t want to move then they were showing us the door! So in July I left with my redundancy pay (oh yes thank you so much..It was a nice amount!) thinking I’d get a job pretty quickly.. after all who wouldn’t want a damn good manager to work for them.. Well as it turned out no one did!! The recession hit hard and jobs have become increasingly difficult to find.
Oldest son moved out and became a Daddy himself – shock – horror my little boy and his GF having a little boy!

Which pretty much brings us up to date. Thirty years on oldest son has just got married and youngest is in Oz looking forward to his nuptials in September.

me! grandson, Hubby Oldest Son

Back to one income but at least this time there is no mortgage and only 2 us to feed now!

The one thing that has remained a constant is my long suffering ‘Old Man’ Hubby. He frustrates me, infuriates me but would never swop him. (Well unless Mr. Buble or Mr Depp turned up at my door!!)